Driving around the peninsula, you might notice a red leaf or two on the maples.

One of my bridge pals said that might be due to the drought stressing the trees. Maybe he was right, but I fear it means we are heading into fall, and the calendar confirms it. It is a time of change, not only in the woods, but in our lives.

Mother Nature is changing our political landscape, too. She has inflicted us all with a fatal ailment known as OLD.

Look at the record. Our president is 80. He says he is in good health, and we all hope that is so. However, history tells us that presidents, from Woodrow Wilson to FDR to JFK, have been less than forthcoming on their personal health issues. On the congressional side, Republican Senator Chuck Grassley is 92, Sen. Harold Rogers (R-KY) is 88, and Rep. Maxine Rogers (D-CA) is 88. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is 84. Our own Sen. Angus King (I-ME) is 82.

Here in Maine, we have a Republican incumbent, Sen. Susan Collins, 73, running against Democrat Troy Jackson, 58. Will their ages matter? We’ll see.

No matter who wins, the calendar continues. Mother Nature always wins. The ailment known as OLD is always fatal.

Last week, Gloria Steinheim, an icon of the women’s rights movement, died at age 92. Unlike some earlier feminists, she shoved change into our personal consciousness with her activism, her personality, and her journalism. If you look up the history of the American women’s movement, she was more like a verbal Carrie Nation than a polite Susan B. Anthony.

After the 19th Amendment opened the voting booth to women in 1920, the equal rights amendment was proposed several times, but failed to win congressional approval. Following the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the idea of an equal rights amendment surfaced again, winning congressional passage in 1972. It was sent to the states for ratification, needing approval from 3/4 or 38 of the states.

The ERA ratification process set off a bitter opposition, led by conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly, who argued it would upset the heterosexual world order, damage traditional marriage, and permit men to invade women’s restrooms. In the end, only 35 states approved it. And it failed.

Sometimes society resists change. Note how the current anti-vaccine movement has gotten traction despite the scientific community’s assertion that vaccines are safe and effective.

Despite the failure of the ERA, the lessons of the ratification battle empowered women educating the Schlafly/Steinheim followers as some transitioned into the powerful pro-life and pro-choice lobbies that are with us today.

These same lessons were learned by the Lincoln County women who have mounted a strong campaign to oppose MaineHealth’s decision to shutter the labor and delivery units at LincolnHealth/Miles Memorial Hospital in Damariscotta. The official hospital reasons for the closure are based upon demographics, a lack of personnel, and fiscal considerations.

Some supporters of the change label their opponents' zarguments as being very emotional, and they are.

Most of the MaineHealth decision-makers are male. Females make up the majority of the opposition. Since time began, we have been fed the ancient argument that male decisions should prevail because women are emotional, thus relegating their legitimate concerns as being secondary to their male counterparts.

In this case, the opposition is directly affected by the L&D closure, as giving birth is one of the most dangerous and emotional times in a woman’s life. Add that to a mother’s instinct to protect her offspring, and you have an argument that could trump the hospital’s demographic/personal/ fiscal reasons for closure.

Today’s Miles Delivers Action Coalition not only triggered strong public opposition, and state and national press coverage, but, after MaineHealth affirmed the closure, it enlisted powerful political support, moving the question to state and local government agendas as political candidates joined in.

Years ago, my father told me that sometimes, when a man argues with a woman, the only thing the man can say is, “Yes, Dear.”

As the maple leaves change to crimson, the men who run MaineHealth might take that advice.

'Til next time ...